Global Movements: Action and Culture

 Over the past decade, we have witnessed the extraordinary rise of new global movements that throw into question the way we think about culture, power and action in a globalizing world. This book examines three of the most significant global social movements of the last decade: anti-globalization, new Islamic movements, and the Falun Gong in China. It also explores key dimensions of these movements, the tensions they confront, and the crises that created them. The book demonstrates how these global movements require a rethinking of the very idea of social movements.

Review: "Global Movements presents a vast body of literature and research and is written in a clear prose that makes it accessible to students." (Social Movement Studies, October 2010) "Global Movements is essential reading for all those trying to understand our twenty-first-century society. It is the first complex account of new forms of worldwide protest and society." Tim Jordan, Open University "This book will be fascinating for anyone who has ever taken part in direct action ... McDonald's work opens up a whole new world for other researchers on global movements." Development and Change "Most essays and research on global movements adopt either a planetary perspective, or the subjective perspective of their participants. McDonald, in this brilliant and solid book, articulates both points of view." Michel Wieviorka, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales "[McDonald] provides a particularly thorough and engaging theoretical introduction, evaluating the literature on globalization and social movements in US and European tradition and stressing the obsolescence of a focus on either structure and organization, or representation and identity." Choice